TomTom black debug screen after booting up

[Krellan]

Interesting. I have a TomTom Go 930 T.

Turned it on, after not using it for about a week. Battery at around 50%.

Instead of getting the regular TomTom display, I got a rather interesting black debug screen!

It had information such as CPU type, amount of RAM and Flash ROM installed, other hardware information and readouts, and so forth. About 20 little pieces of information were displayed, on white text, on a black background screen.

Unfortunately, I didn't think to take a picture of this screen.

I tried to get it to come back again, and couldn't. After rebooting, I just got the regular TomTom display.

Has anybody else gotten this screen? Is it reproducible?

 

[dhn]

That is indeed a debug screen and can be achieved by holding the power button and continuing to hold it during boot up till that screen appears.

Perhaps you got it by initially holding the power button too long. No more than about 3-4 seconds should do it.

 

[NeuroBeaker]

Unresponsive TomTom, Diagnostic Screen, Loud Noises, Need Help, AAAAAAAAH!

Hello TomTom enthusiasts,

I am a fellow TomTom user having some problems and I found this thread following a Google search. I'm hopeful you'll be able to guide me as I couldn't find anything remotely similar to my problem on the TomTom UK Support pages. It's rather important to me to get my TomTom working again as, frankly, I am completely and totally reliant on it for getting anywhere - my navigational skills without it are wholly nonexistent. To make matters worse, my part-time job is as a pizza delivery driver... so you can imagine how difficult it becomes for me to do that without my TomTom!

Here's what's happened so far:

• Firstly, the device refused to turn off or cancel navigation when I was getting out of the car momentarily to deliver a pizza - although everything else seemed to be working just fine. It is normally used in its TomTom dock in the car and was plugged into the cigarette power port. The battery was a little on the low side, but it was charging just fine.
• I tried doing a soft reset to see if that would recover the device... unfortunately, this merely displayed the aforementioned diagnostic screen. I am certain I had not been holding down the power button at the time.
• I tried a soft reset a few more times without success... the only thing the device would display is the diagnostic screen and would not turn off.
• I had to leave the device to simply run out of power and hopefully turn itself off. After about 6 hours (about 1:00am) it started making a very loud crackling noise like a Geiger-M?ller counter (radiation detector) and scared the living daylights out of me. Please note, I have not reconfigured it to operate as such and I don't think my secret Highland lair is radioactive.
• After burying the device under a pillow... (it is after 2:00am now)... it's quietened down somewhat. Pressing the reset button or the power button does not seem to affect it in any way that I can determine.
• I tried to connect it to my computer to do a restoration, as I backed it up a couple of months ago, but the TomTom unit is unresponsive. My computer tells me I need to authorize connecting the TomTom via the TomTom's screen... which I can't do.

At this point, any help or suggestions you might be able to give me would be greatly appreciated.

All the best,
Andrew.

 

[dhn]

Welcome to TTF, Andrew.

What model TomTom do you have...........??

From your detailed description of the symptoms, it sounds like a hardware, not a software, issue.

 

[NeuroBeaker]

Welcome to TTF, Andrew.

What model TomTom do you have...........??

From your detailed description of the symptoms, it sounds like a hardware, not a software, issue.

Thanks for the welcome and for getting back to me.

It's a TomTom GO 500. I rely pretty heavily upon it and it performed flawlessly in use several times a week since I bought it new about five years ago, until it went unexpectedly wrong the other night. It wasn't dropped, modified, left in extreme temperatures, or abused in any way, so if it's a hardware issue is there merely a certain point at which these things finally wear out regardless of how well they are looked after?

I'd like to find a way to get this one working again (I'm rather attached to it), but failing that, I'd probably go for a like-for-like replacement (if reasonably priced) or I might buy a new TomTom. I found some eBay prices for GO 500s a little optimistic. I definitely want to stick with TomTom as I like its interface the best and I appreciated that my GO 500 had bluetooth to interface with my phone to work as a hands-free for long trips.

All the best,
Andrew.

 

[dhn]

Look for UK supermod, Mikealder, to respond to this thread as he is most conversant with the various TT models available in the UK and can advise you the best.

If he doesn't post here within 24 hours, pm him with your query.

 

[NeuroBeaker]

Look for UK supermod, Mikealder, to respond to this thread as he is most conversant with the various TT models available in the UK and can advise you the best.

If he doesn't post here within 24 hours, pm him with your query.

Thanks very much, will do.

I have a few options if my TomTom GO 500 is not cost-effective to repair... I've found the TomTom GO 550 LIVE (?199.99), TomTom GO 750 LIVE (?229.99), and TomTom GO 950 LIVE (?255.48) on sale near me. I may be moving to the US within a year so I'm wondering if getting the maps that include the USA at the start rather than buying them as an upgrade after the move will be a cheaper option for me overall.

Still haven't quite given up on the GO 500 yet, but given its age, I suspect it might not be cost-effective to repair. Trying to find repair shops near me to see if I can get anyone to give me a free estimate, but don't fancy mailing it off as that adds to the cost.

All the best,
Andrew.

 

[NeuroBeaker]

I think I've certainly decided on a GO LIVE system... just trying to pick between the GO 550 LIVE, GO 750 live, and GO 950 LIVE.

I needed a specific technical question on the GO 550 LIVE answered (and got confused as to which would be the right forum for that one) so put it in the General Discussion as a new thread:

https://www.tomtomforums.com/general-tomtom-discussion/21893-tomtom-go-550-live-maps-question.html

​

Hopefully I'll be able to go pick it up tomorrow if I get some advice by lunchtime... and can convince the wife, who keeps trying to get me to buy a Garmin. Obviously, I'm going to try to swing the TomTom.

All the best,
Andrew.